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15 - The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi · Classic Adventure Books Collection

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  Chapter fifteen. The assassins chase Pinocchio, catch him, and hang him to
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  the branch of a giant oak tree. As he ran, the marionette felt
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  more and more certain that he would have to give himself up into the hands
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  of his pursuers. Suddenly he saw a little cottage gleaming white as the snow,
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  among the trees of the forest. If I have enough breath left with
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  which to reach that little house, I may be saved, he said to
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  himself. Not waiting another moment, he darted swiftly through the woods, the
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  assassins still after him. After a hard race of almost an hour, tired
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  and out of breath, Pinocchio finally reached the door of the cottage and knocked.
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  No one answered. He knocked again, harder than before, for behind
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  him he heard the steps and the labored breathing of his persecutors. The same
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  silence followed. As knocking was of no use. Pinocchio, in despair,
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  began to kick and bang against the doors if he wanted to break it.
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  At the noise, a window opened, and a lovely maiden looked out.
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  She had as your hair and a face white as wax. Her eyes were
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  closed and her hands crossed upon her breast. With a voice so weak it
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  could hardly be heard, she whispered, No one lives in this house.
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  Every one is dead. Won't you at least open the door for me?
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  Cried Pinocchio in a beseeching voice. I am also dead dead? What are
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  you doing at the window? Then? I am waiting for the coffin to
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  take me away. After these words, the little girl disappeared and the window
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  closed without a sound. O, lovely maiden with azure hair, cried Pinocchio.
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  Open. I beg of you. Take pity on a poor boy who
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  was being chased by to us as he did not finish, for two powerful
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  hands gripped him by the neck, and the same two horrible voices growled threateningly.
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  Now we have you. The marionette, seeing death dancing before him,
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  trembled so hard that the joints of his legs rattled and the coins tinkled under
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  his tongue. Well, the assassins asked, will you open your mouth now
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  or not? Ah, you do not answer very well, This time you
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  shall open it. Taking out two long, sharp knives, they struck two
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  heavy blows on the Marionette's back, haply for him. Pinocchio was made of
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  very hard wood, and the knives broke into a thousand pieces. The assassins
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  looked at each other in dismay, holding the handles of their knives in their
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  hands. I understand, said one of them to the other. There is
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  nothing left to do now but to hang him. To hang him, repeated
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  the other. They tied Pinocchio's hands behind his shoulders and slipped the noose around
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  his neck. Throwing the rope over the high limb of a giant oak tree,
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  they pulled until the poor marionette hung far up in space. Satisfied with
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  their work, they sat on the grass, waiting for Pinocchio to give his
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  last gasp. But after three hours, the marionette's eyes were still open,
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  his mouth still shut, and his legs kicked harder than ever. Tired of
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  waiting, the assassins called to him mockingly, good bye till tomorrow. When
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  we return in the morning, we hope you'll be polite enough to let us
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  find you dead and gone with your mouth wide open. With these words they
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  went a few minutes went by, and then a while wild wind started to
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  blow. As it shrieked and moaned, The poor little Supper was blown to
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  and fro like the hammer of the bell. The rocking made him seasick,
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  and the noose, becoming tighter and tighter, choked him. Little by little.
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  A film covered his eyes. Death was creeping nearer and nearer, and
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  the marionette still hoped for some good soul to come to his rescue, but
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  no one appeared. As he was about to die, he thought of his
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  poor old father, and, hardly conscious of what he was saying, murmured
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  to himself, Oh father, dear father, if you were only here,
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  These were his last words. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth,
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  stretched out his legs, and hung there as if he were dead. So
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  ends Chapter fifteen of Pinocchio.